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Trump ordered a review of Biden-era asylum approvals and Green Cards from 19 high-risk countries. USCIS issued new rules allowing officers to treat origin countries as negative factors in immigration screening.
US President Donald Trump.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Nov 28, 2025 05:40 IST
US President Donald Trump has ordered a broad review of asylum cases approved under former President Joe Biden and Green Cards issued to citizens of 19 countries, Department of Homeland Security officials said on Thursday.
The move came as US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new guidance tightening screening standards in the wake of the shooting of two Guard members in Washington, D.C., by an Afghan national who entered the country in 2021.
USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said the new policy will allow officers to treat an applicant’s home country as a significant negative factor when assessing immigration benefits. “My primary responsibility is to ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” Edlow said. “American lives come first.”
Officials said the 19 affected countries match those listed in a June presidential proclamation imposing full or partial entry suspensions: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Edlow said the new guidance responds directly to yesterday’s horrific events and argued the Biden administration had spent four years dismantling basic vetting and screening standards while prioritizing rapid resettlement from high-risk countries.
The 29-year-old suspect, an Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the US in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration programme that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the US withdrawal from the country.
The updated policy instructs USCIS officers to consider issues such as the applicant’s country’s ability to issue secure identity documents or support background checks. Officials say the change strengthens enforcement of Trump’s national security proclamation, PP 10949, which restricts entry for foreign nationals deemed potential threats.
The guidance takes effect immediately and applies to all requests pending or filed on or after November 27, 2025.
The rare shooting of Guard members, on the day before Thanksgiving, comes as the presence of the troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has been a flashpoint issue for months, fueling court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem, according to The Associated Press.
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Published By:
Aashish Vashistha
Published On:
Nov 28, 2025
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